Working Mothers vs.

Non-Working Mothers 2010

Research Methods in Social Sciences

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Submitted By: Durriya Azmat Javeriah Farrukh Sidra Azam Modan (BBA III) Date of Submission: 11th Dec 2010

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 3

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................... 4

RESEARCH DESIGN/METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 7

LIMITATIONS: ......................................................................................................................... 8

FORMAT FOR THE FINAL REPORT: ..................................................................................... 8

TIME LINE FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECT ....................................................................... 10

BIBLOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 10

APPENDIX A .......................................................................................................................... 11

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010

BACKGROUND
Purpose of the study The goal of our study is to discover the level of psychological well being of working mothers as opposed to non working mothers with respect to the variables of self esteem, stress levels and role fulfillment. We wish to explore the cause and effect relationship of the psychological well being of a mother and her being an employed or stay-at-home mom. Through this study we will be able to refine our understanding of the current Pakistani perspective of working mothers psychological well being as opposed to non working mothers and determine empirically if it really does stand true or not. In either case, with the results of our study, we hope to arrive at some conclusions about the Pakistani perspective in this field and subsequently provide recommendations based on our results and literature review. Operational Definitions Working mother: a woman mother to at least one child, engaged in paid employment and works out of the house for a minimum of three hours per week Non-working mother: a woman mother to at least one child, not engaged in paid employment Psychological well-being: mental health measured on the basis of three variables levels of stress and self-esteem/sense of worth Mother role satisfaction: the positive or negative extent to which disparity exists between home role attitude and employment role attitude Child-care support: Child-care support was operationalised in terms of demand, determined by number and ages of children. Significance A growing number of women are combining the roles of motherhood and wage earner. Middleclass women's entry into the workforce has resulted in many new variables deciding the success of their fulfillment to each role, that of a home-maker and that of a professional. Most studies that exist to date focus on the effects on mothers taking up such diverse roles on child
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Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 development; however, we aim to bring to the surface the inner struggles and psychological efforts mothers make to come to terms with their dual roles, and choosing between their lives and the lives of their children/family. Work-life conflict is often associated with long working hours, and this is one of the pre-existing information that we wish to test with out research. The role of mothers in Pakistani society seems to be under constant scrutiny, although our culture now seems to be going into acceptance of a working woman, with passing time. The fact that this is a cultural stigma and research of this sort hardly exists in Pakistan is where the significance of our hypotheses lies. Research Questions y y y Do working mothers have higher self esteem than stay-at home mothers? Are working mothers are guilty of neglecting their children? Working mothers who have higher commitment to work tend to have higher levels of psychological well being? y Do working mothers have better stress coping strategies because they dont internalize stress?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The research on Working mothers versus non working mothers is a comparative study conducted by Usha R. Rout, Cary L. Cooper, and Helen Kerslake. The study provides some useful insight into the differences across psychological well being between working mothers and stay at home mothers. The research that has been quoted in the study and the empirical research conducted by the authors, testify to a positive co-relation between stable mental health and employment. Working mothers are advantaged by the dual roles that they play; consequently they suffer from less stress and depression in comparison to stay at home mothers. The primary stressor for working mothers is the basic need to give their best to all the roles that they are expected to fulfill (wife, mother, and employee). Meanwhile non working mothers appear to suffer from high stress primarily because of the single focus in their lives. Stay at home mothers lament the absence of a social life/ network in their lives. The research breaks away from typical conclusions about the differences in self esteem across the two groups of mothers. The authors of

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 this research have found no significant differences in self efficacy of working mothers and non working mothers. Most mothers regardless of employment status prefer the emotion-focused approach towards problem coping with stress. However, while stay at home mothers prefer to internalize the causes of stress and cope with it alone, working mothers actively seek support and help to handle the stress in their lives. The chosen sample for this research was 200 participants, out of which 101 agreed to participate. The percentage of working mothers (78%) significantly outweighed the percentage of non working mothers (22%) in this sample. There is therefore reason to believe that the results of the study may not be entirely valid or reliable. Non working mothers may be at a disadvantage in this study primarily because of poor representation. Another reason can be attributed to a sample which comprised of stay at home mothers who had a greater majority of younger children. Research has shown that mothers experience more stress and anxiety when their children are young. Stay at home mothers were pre-disposed to higher levels of stress due to the age of their children, which means essentially that there was a flaw in the research method. The questionnaires for the study were handed to both groups of mothers, and were self administered tests. This research approach may have lead to under or over reporting by both groups of mothers. Multiple roles and well being: A study of mothers of preschool children: This research studies the relation of well being of mothers to involvement in multiple roles. Multiple roles imply the role of a mother, wife and paid worker. The sample was 134 Caucasian women of preschool children. The variables used were, self esteem and satisfaction with ones current role pattern. Some theories suggest that involvement in multiple roles leads to negatively impact well being, while others suggest that involvement in multiple roles can contribute to well being. The hypothesis of this study was that if, multiple role involvement, that is of, a mother, a wife and a paid worker, contributes to higher levels of conflict and stress then the psychological well being of such women should be lower than that of women who are mothers, wives but not paid workers. The results of this research show that there exists a similarity between the levels of self esteem and role pattern satisfaction of working and non-working mothers. In fact a positive
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Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 relationship was established between work commitment and role satisfaction. It is important to point out here that these women were at the peak of involvement in child care; however, that did not negatively impact their well being. We chose to incorporate this study in our research because it is pertinent to the topic we wish to study, specifically with respect to the variables involved. Also, the comparison between working and non working mothers, gives us a fair idea of how to operationalize variables in a comparative study of this effect. This study gives a certain depth to our research because of the unlikely results that it has unveiled. Womens struggle to manage both work and family responsibilities, especially as mothers, and the physical and psychological distress associated with it has been well documented over the past. The research titled 'I'm so much more myself now, coming back to work' - working class mothers, paid work and childcare by Annette Brauna, Carol Vincenta, Stephen J. Balla, (Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK) focuses on a comparative study of lower class mothers taking up a new role, that of a working woman, an earning member of the society, with that of middle-class mothers albeit for reasons as different as having no option but to be the sole earner of the family and doing it for their self-esteem (respectively). However, as our empirical work will be based on middle-class mothers, we have extracted information relevant to only those for study. The middle-class mothers felt a sense of independence, and talked about the liberation of working, meaning this socially, emotionally as well as financially. It provided them with a publicly recognized sense of self and adult relationships separate from their identities as mothers; however an area of growing concern for middle-class mothers now appears to be the competing tensions between their responsibilities to their children and taking up a role within the labour market. A fear of not being able to fulfill either role, that of motherhood and that of the successful professional woman, to its potential is the prime reason for this psychological state of mind. This acts as a major stressor in the mothers life, the attempt to find a balance between work and home, but failing to strike one. Working mothers expressed feeling guilt when they considered going back to work after their maternity leaves. A key variable in determining the importance given to each role is culture. Part of the sample of this study comprised Muslim South-East Asian women, most of whom (90 percent) emphasized
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Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 the primacy of their role as mothers and in running a home and stressed the continuity of traditional family values, which working outside the home was not part of. This is relevant to our research since this sample reflects our cultural values and norms, and the adapted mind-set about organizing work and the life at home simultaneously. Middle class mothers emphasized on intense maternal engagement with the child as a key aspect of good mothering, and our aim is to study whether this hold true in an urbanized Pakistani culture.

RESEARCH DESIGN/METHODOLOGY

Sample y y y Sample size: 175 participants, working and non-working mothers. Socio-Economic Group: Higher Income group, Upper Middle Class & Middle Class Sample age: 25-55 years

Research Methods & Tools y Comparative Study Comparisons will be analyzed between working mothers and non-working mothers between the ages of 25-55 years. y Semi- Structured Questionnaires will be used to measure self esteem, stress, mother role satisfaction, demographic characteristics, and coping strategies. y Interviews will be conducted with some of the participants from each age group to develop a detailed insight into individual differences that may influence stress levels across both groups. y The method of data collection encompasses both qualitative and quantitative data. Close ended questions on the questionnaire will allow a statistical analysis. Meanwhile, open ended questions of the questionnaire and the interview results will give qualitative data for analysis. Analysis The data collected will be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively through the procedures prescribed by the standardized tests that will be used for data collection.
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Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 Ethical Considerations y Voluntary participation: Informed consent, voluntary with drawl and complete description should be given of the purpose of the research. y Confidentiality: All private information shall be kept confidential, participants private details will not be violated.

LIMITATIONS:

Our study, like any other research, has certain constraints that limit its scope. To begin with, our sample size is small and hence the inferences cannot be generalized to larger more varied samples. Another limitation is that, weve collected our data from Karachi only, which means that our sample may not be a representative sample with reference to Pakistan. While on the subject of sample constraints, another limitation is the socioeconomic consideration. We have collected data from upper-middle class and upper class only and discounted the lower socioeconomic classes because of difficulty of access to the participants and also because, with the addition of lower socioeconomic groups, a number of extraneous variables have to be taken into account which we could not account for in the limited scope of our study. The age group of our sample is 25-55 years, which is a huge age bracket. This means that our participants belong to different lifecycle stages; hence their perceptions will vary based on their lifecycle stage. The effects of stress on psychological well being are best measured in a longitudinal study design; however, due to time constraints we cannot conduct a longitudinal study.

FORMAT FOR THE FINAL REPORT:

Title page y y y y Subject Keywords Field of research Authors/researchers

Executive summary Introduction

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010 y y y Secondary research Purpose of the study Research questions

Sampling y y Sample size Sampling method

Research design and method y y y y Comparative study Cross sectional study Research tools Questionnaire/interview

Results Discussion Limitations Future Recommendations Bibliography Appendix y y A-Questionnaires/ interviews B-Research studies collected

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010

TIME LINE FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECT

December 10th till December 15th December 16th till December 25th December 26th till December 29th December 30th till January 4rd January 5th till January 10th January 10th till January 12th Secondary Research Administering the questionnaire Data collection and organization Analysis of the data collected Writing the final research report Editing the final research report

BIBLOGRAPHY
Barnett, Rosahnd C. Multiple Roles and Well- Being: A study of Mothers of Preschool Age Children. Psychology of Women Quarterly. Vol 7(2). Winter 1982. Rout, Usha R.; Cooper, Cary L. & Kerslake, Helen. Working and non-working mothers: a comparative study. Women in Management Review. Volume 12(264-275). 1997. Braun, Annette; Vincent, Carol; Ball, Stephen J. 'I'm so much more myself now, coming back to work' - working class mothers, paid work and childcare. Journal of Education Policy. Vol. 23, No. 5, (533548) September 2008.

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Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010

APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Age: ____ 2. Currently employed as: ___________________________ 3. Marital status: 4. Number of Children Age Group 0-8 9-12 13-19 20-23 25 and above 5. Number of hours spent working, daily a. 1-3 hours b. 4-6 hours c. 7-9 hours d. Over 9 hours 6. Rank the following in order of decreasing importance: a. Work(Profession) b. Housework c. Family d. Finances e. Alone time 7. Rate the following: a. On the whole I am satisfied with myself. b. At times I think that I am no good at all. c. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. d. I am able to do things as well as most other people. 11
Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Single

Married

Working Mothers vs. Non-Working Mothers 2010

e. I feel I do not have much to be proud of. f.
I certainly feel useless at times.

g. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least the equal of others. h. I wish I could have more respect for myself. i. j.
All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure. I take a positive attitude toward myself.

8. Which of the following are you most likely to say? Rank from 1 to 3, with 1 being the most likely and 3 being the least likely: a. I wish I could change what was happening or how I feel about it b. I go over in my head what I have to do/say c. I feel the need to talk about my feelings to feel better

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